MLAs eye Games flats

Delhi MLAs now want a colony of their own. Cutting across party lines, almost all the MLAs on Thursday demanded the Delhi government to “sell” at purchase rate, the flats at the Commonwealth Games village, that the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has bought from a private builder.

Evoking examples from other states, where the MLAs are provided accommodation by the respective state governments, the MLAs, led by Mukesh Sharma (Congress) exhorted CM Sheila Dikshit to take up the issue on their behalf.

“We are not asking for freebies. What we are saying is that the government should intervene and ensure that DDA sells the flats to us at the same price that it has paid the private builder,” Sharma told HT.

“The MLAs have demanded that the flats being built at Akshardham should be offered to them at the same price at which the DDA has purchased it from the private builder. We have assured them that we will forward their request to the Lt. Governor,” said Delhi Finance Minister A K Walia.

The proposal floated by Sharma got the support from the BJP too. “There are a number of states that have hostels especially for MLAs. There is nothing wrong in what we are demanding,” said BJP MLA Kulwant Rana.

There are a total of 1,168 flats that are in their final stage of completion.

Booking of these flats is on and possession will be given after the Games are over. The cost of these flats varies between Rs. 2 and 5 crore.

“The chief minister has assured us that she will send our request to the DDA and Lt. Governor,” said Congress MLA Anil Chaudhary.